


A Night to Remember

by Superellysan



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Look at these dorks they are adorable, This is the fluff to heal the wounds left by my last fic, flustered Zero and supportive X inbound
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-17 13:17:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9326489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Superellysan/pseuds/Superellysan
Summary: Zero goes on his first date.





	1. The Moments Before

**Author's Note:**

> The fluff that hopefully makes up for my last fic (haha). I hope you enjoy this one!

Zero was rushing around his room getting ready as X sat on his bed, watching in slight amusement. He grabbed a tie off of the corner of a chair and held it up to himself. "This one?"  
"No, not that," X replied. He pointed a finger towards another tie that was hanging over the closet door. "Wear that one instead."  
Zero quickly walked over and snatched the other tie up in his hands. He placed the tie around his neck, before his hands froze as he remembered he didn't know how to tie a tie. He looked at X, pleading for help with his eyes.  
"Yeah, yeah," X sighed, walking over to help him. "Geez, Zero, you really need to learn how to do this."  
"I don't usually dress up for anything, though," Zero said as X finished with his tie. Zero strode over to the one mirror in his room and started fidgeting with his clothes and hair. X sighed and sat back down on his bed.  
"So," Zero suddenly asked, turning towards X, "how do I look?"  


Zero was wearing a black tuxedo with a white undershirt and a scarlet tie. His hair was up in a high bun, and he had a nervous smile on his face.  
"Okay, first," X said, getting up "take your hair out of that, it looks ridiculous."  
"What?" Zero replied, before turning to the mirror again, his hands fidgeting at his bun. "Does it really look that bad?"  
"Yes, it does," X tutted, reaching his hands out to take Zero's hair down. "Just wear it how you usually wear it."  
"W-will that be good enough, though?" Zero stuttered out, staring at the mirror as X tied his hair at the nape of his neck. "G-good enough f-for her? I-i don't want it to look shabby, I-!"  
"Zero,” X sighed, “she doesn't care about how 'proper' you look as much as you think she does."  
"But..."  
X rolled his eyes, before asking "Hey, what time is it?"  
"It's....." Zero checked his internal clock before blanching. He ran towards the door, shouting, "WHEN DID IT GET THIS LATE!?"  
X chuckled as his friend dashed down the hall, then walked over and picked up the bouquet of flowers his friend had forgotten in his hurry, thinking "Should take him about 15 minutes to get to her house on his bike. I'll just teleport to him and hand these off when he gets there." X sighed, a what could only be described as proud smile on his face, before leisurely strolling out into the hall, bouquet in hand.

* * *

 

Zero sped down the street, body held low to his ride chaser, his hair whipping in the wind behind him. He realized half way to her house that he had forgotten the flowers back in his room. He quickly called X, and the signal beeped for a few seconds before connecting. "Zero,” X’s voice said from the other end.  
"X, I FORGOT THE FLOWERS," Zero yelled in panic.  
Zero could tell X was trying to hold back a laugh as he replied "No worries, I got them. Send me your tracking info, and I'll warp over and hand them off to you about a block from her house. Sound good?"  
Zero sighed heavily in relief. "X, you are a god-sent gift, you know that?"  
"I don't know about that..." X said sheepishly, an obvious prompt of 'go on' in his tone.  
"X, I'm serious!" Zero laughed. "You not only helped me get ready, but made the reservations, got the flowers, helped me buy a tux... X, you are too good to me! What did I do to deserve a friend like you?"  
X chuckled, obviously flattered. "Okay, you can stop now. I'm gonna hang up. See you in a few minutes!" With that, X closed the call. Zero smiled to himself as he sent X his tracking data, but the smile slowly turned sad.  
"I mean that, X," Zero thought to himself. "Seriously, I don't deserve you."  
Zero sighed and shook that thought from his head, forcing a smile back onto his face as he continued to drive on.

After about seven minutes, Zero pulled up to a corner near her house and waited for X to arrive. He was standing beside his ride-chaser anxiously tapping his foot when his friend beamed in, flowers in hand.  
“Here we are,” X theatrically proclaimed as he handed Zero the flowers, “one forgotten bouquet of flowers.”  
Zero’s hands quickly shot forward to take the bouquet. He exclaimed “Thanks, X!” before turning towards his ride-chaser and preparing to head off. X set the coordinates to teleport back to HQ and was about to warp before he noticed that his friend had stopped, one trembling hand clutched around the handle of his ride. Zero swallowed. “X…”  
“Yes?”  
“I’m scared…” Zero let out a shaky chuckle under his breath. “Why am I so nervous?” He heard X snicker behind him, and looked back at his friend in annoyance. “I’m serious! What if something goes wrong, what if she doesn’t like the flowers, the restaurant, what if I embarrass her, X, this is my first date and I don’t….”  
X put a reassuring hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You’re going to be okay. Just go pick her up, drive her to dinner, and then take her around town after. Simple.”  
“But…. But what if-“  
“Zero,” X interrupted his friends rambling, his grip on the other’s shoulder tightening as he looked resolutely into his anxious friend’s eyes. “Relax. You’ve been practicing table manners all week, you’ve driven the route to the restaurant at least fifteen times, you put enough cash away to pay for whatever she gets for dinner, AND you already have a solid idea of where you want to take her after. _You’ve got this, okay?_ ”  
Zero gulped, before hesitantly nodding his head.  
“Good.” X released his grip before saying “Now get going, otherwise you’re going to be late.”  
“R-right,” Zero muttered. Turning to his bike, he took a deep breath to calm himself and revved the ride-chaser’s engines. He gave his friend one last look. “Thanks again, X.”  
“No problem. Now go!”  
Zero let out a shaky and breathy laugh before driving off. X merely shook his head and sighed, his lips pulled into a weary but happy smile. “Geez, you can stare down mavericks without breaking a sweat, and a date has you this nervous?” He quietly chuckled, before finally teleporting back to base.

Zero pulled up outside of the house a minute later and parked his ride-chaser by the curb. He looked towards her house as a shaky breath escaped him.  
“You’ve got this, Zero…” he muttered to himself as he walked up to the door, the bouquet of flowers shaking in his nervous hands. “You’ve got this…”  
He stood in front of the door, hand hovering over the doorbell. He could see that his hands were trembling. Taking a deep breath, he quickly pushed the bell, slightly jumping as he heard a muffled ring come through the door.  
“I’m coming!” chimed a breathtaking voice, and Zero gulped as he fought every instinct he had to flee.  


The door slowly swung open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thus ends chapter 1. I've written this to be vague as to who Zero is taking out on a date on purpose. I'll reveal who it is in chapter 2, but in the meantime I'll just leave it up to your imagination. I'd love to hear who you think it may be and any number of versions of dates ya'll may come up with in the comments, and I hope you look forward to chapter 2 and have a wonderful rest of your day!  
> Until next time!


	2. Pick up and Departure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The mystery girl is revealed. Enjoy!

Zero quickly hid the bouquet behind his back as the door swung open. He stuttered out “G-good evening, I-” before being struck dumb by the image of the girl standing before him.

She was wearing a navy dress that hugged around her chest and abdomen before flaring out around her waist. The skirt, hemmed with white lace, ended just above her knees. The white lace was also present around the dress’ waist, sleeves, and neckline, which dipped below her collar bone. She was wearing white gloves that came up to her elbows, and pearls hung from her ears. Her brunette hair was curled, and jeweled pins held her bangs away from her eyes. Her beautiful eyes…..  
“Zero?” The girl asked, and her voice sound like an angel’s. “Are you alright?”  
“Wha…” Zero blinked, before flinching as he realized he had just been standing there staring at her. His face turned red as he said “Ye-yeah, I’m fine! Um….” He coughed into his palm before continuing, “Good evening, Iris. You look…” he hesitated as he tried to find the right words. “….you look beautiful.”  
Iris blushed, looking shyly towards the ground as she replied “Th-thank you…. You look beautiful too, in your suit.” Her eyes widened and her gaze snapped up as she exclaimed “Handsome! I meant you look…. handsome….”  
The two just stared at each other for a minute, both their faces red.  
“Thank you…. I… I like your dress….” Zero muttered.  
“Oh! Thanks…” Iris responded. A few more awkward seconds passed before she asked “What do you have behind your back?”  
“Huh… Oh!” Zero quickly pulled the bouquet forward, hands shaking as he presented them to Iris. “Flowers… for you…”  
Iris took the flowers from Zero, and Zero could see that her eyes were shining. “Zero…” she breathed out. “They’re beautiful.”  
“Yeah, well….” Zero fiddled with his ponytail nervously as he said “x-X helped me pick them out, so you can th-thank him for that one.”  
Iris sniffed the bouquet as she said, “I’m guessing he brought them to you, as well?”  
Zero started as he said “How did you-?”  
“I saw the teleport beam,” Iris replied with a giggle, before turning around and saying, “I’m going to put these in some water quickly, then we can head out.”  
“O-okay,” Zero said as the door swung close again. He sighed, and leaned himself against the wall next to the door frame, silently berating himself for acting like a fool in front of the girl he liked on his first date.

Iris opened the door again a minute later, startling Zero out of his mental tirade against himself. She smiled at him and he could feel his heart or core or whatever melt as she said, “I’m ready. Where are we going?”  
Zero stuttered out something incoherent before coughing and motioning towards his ride-chaser, saying, “I’ve made reservations at a fancy restaurant that I thought you’d like, and after dinner I thought I’d show you some of my favorite places around the city. Th-that is, if you want to see them….”  
Her smile grew more radiant and lovely as she exclaimed, “Of course I want to see them!” and held her hand out to him. Zero stared at it dumbly for a few seconds before Iris dropped it and walked out toward his ride-chaser. “So,” she said, her voice a bit less joyful than before, “how are we both going to fit on this? Isn’t it only built for one person?”  
“Oh! R-right…” Zero muttered, jogging up to stand beside her. “Have you ever ridden a ride-chaser before, Iris?”  
Iris shook her head.  
“Alright, then um…. You can sit in front. G-go ahead and get on quickly.” Zero toed his foot against the ground as Iris unceremoniously tried to mount the ride-chaser, before walking over and helping her mount it, blushing as he did so. “Sorry, probably should have…. Aaaah…”

Iris looked down at the bike beneath her. “Soooooo….. Now what?”  
“Now…” Zero said, quickly perching himself on the edge of the seat behind Iris.  
“I…..”  
 He reached his arms out around her to grab at the handle bars, and Iris held back a squeak as she felt his arms touch her waist.  
“Do….”  
She felt his legs against her own as he extended them forward towards the gas and brake pedals in front of her.  
“This.”  
Iris let out an undignified “eep!” as he leaned against her back. She could hear him breathing next to her ear and the feel pulse of his core as his chest laid against her back. He placed his head on her shoulder, and their cheeks almost touched. Her face was completely red. She looked over, and saw that his face was red too.  
Zero muttered next to her ear, “I… I c-can drive like th-this…. R-ready to go?”  
Iris stiffly nodded, and flinched as she felt the bike rumble to life below her. Zero leaned further into her and kicked the bike into gear, and soon the two of them were zooming down the street.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed that I changed this from 3 chapters to 5. The reason for that is because I've been working on what was supposed to be chapter two for over a week now and have come to the conclusion that I should split it up because a) that means I can actually update this sooner and b) I wasn't even a third of the way through it and it was already 3x longer than the first chapter. Soooo yeah, I'm going to split them up. Of course, by splitting them up this became a pretty short chapter. Sorry about that...  
> Also, to anyone who guessed Iris as the mystery girl, congrats! To everyone who may be mad at me for choosing Iris, just ignore the existence of these next few chapters and insert whoever you want into that position. (That's actually the reason why I didn't reveal who it was before)  
> Anyway, I promise to have chapter 3 up as soon as I finish it and I think you'll really like it!  
> And as always, I hope you have a great rest of your day.  
> Until next time!


	3. The Dinner

An awkward silence stretched over them for most of drive. Zero relaxed as his attention was taken up by driving. Iris watched as the buildings zipped past them, the lights they gave blurring in her optics. She looked at the signs, the street lamps, the pedestrians, anywhere but at the hands on the handle bars or the person whose head leaned on her shoulder.  
She flinched and let out a squeak when Zero said, “Almost there,” right next to her ear. She looked around, the buildings and streets looking vaguely familiar to her. She read the street signs, trying to figure out why the place seemed familiar.

Zero pulled up to a restaurant, and flinched as he heard Iris gasp in front of him. He looked at her face, and saw that her eyes were sparkling.  
“This…” she breathed, her voice sparkling with awe, “you got us reservations at La dame des fleurs?”  
Zero smiled. “I heard it was your favorite restaurant.”  
She turned her head to look at him, and he could feel a twinge in his chest at the sight of her joyful face, her eyes that shined like stars, her warm brown hair that curled around her face and fell over her forehead. That moment stretched like an eternity to him, and he felt that he could stare into her emerald eyes forever.  
He shook himself out of his trance as Iris turned around to dismount from the ride-chaser. He quickly hopped off, steadying the bike with one hand, his other held out to her. She placed her hand in his and he could feel a faint blush coming to his checks as she leaned into him for support while dismounting. When she had steadied herself on the ground, she took her hand from his and patted at the skirt of her dress to smooth it. Zero’s hand felt cold without hers, but he ignored that thought as she looked up at him. He coughed and said, “So, shall we head in?” She gave him a soft smile and nodded. He motioned towards the door awkwardly. A few seconds passed before he realized Iris wanted him to walk in ahead of her. His face flushed as he quickly turned and walked towards the entrance, glancing back once to make sure she was following him.  
There was a concierge outside at a booth that greeted people as they entered and led them to their tables. The two walked up to him, and Zero could see his eyebrows raise in question at the sight of them. His eyes seemed almost hostile as he asked “Do you two… need something?”  
Zero saw Iris tense, her smile fading from her face. He gave the concierge a cold stare as he said, “We have a 7:20 reservation for two. It’ll be under the name Zero.”  
The concierge gave both of them a pointed look before slowly checking the reservation list in front of him. His eyes stopped, and he looked up at the two, saying, “So you do. Right this way, please.” He pushed the door open and held it as Zero and Iris entered.

The restaurant was warmly lit, the walls adorned with tapestries and paintings of scenic hills and countryside. Zero noted that the restaurant was packed as the concierge led the two of them to a round table near the back. He could feel the stares from the other diners on his back as they passed. He couldn’t fault them much for it. It wasn’t everyday that you saw reploids as patrons in a restaurant (mainly because there were very few reploids who could actually eat food in the first place).

 The table was adorned with a cream covering that had deep red trim around its edges. Two menus, two napkins folded to look like roses, and two sets of golden silverware laid on the table facing each other, with a small candle and a vase that held a few rose stems and some white flower that Zero couldn’t place the name of between them. The two chairs seated at the table looked plush and comfortable. The concierge simply motioned at the table, and Zero gave him a look before walking forward and pulling Iris’ chair out for her to sit down. She smiled at him in gratitude, and as she sat down he saw the concierge give her and him a scornful look before turning away and walking back to the front. Zero fought the urge to punch to him as he pushed Iris’ chair in and went to sit himself.  
“Are the staff here always this rude?” he grumpily asked, settling into his seat.  
“They weren’t the last time I was here….” Iris replied, before sighing and slightly mumbling “Maybe because last time I was here, it was on official Repliforce business…”  
Zero looked at her and frowned in confusion. “Wait, why would you be in a restaurant on Repliforce business?” Iris stared at him, and he slightly blushed as he continued, “I-I mean, if you don’t mind me asking, it’s just that most reploids can’t eat and I’ve been to a few Repliforce meetings myself as a Hunter representative but none of them were held in restaurants and-”  
He was cut off from his rambling by Iris daintily lifting a hand to her mouth and laughing. “It’s okay, I know it’s a weird place for a meeting.” She lightly snorted before explaining, “The meeting was supposed to be in a conference hall between me and a hunter representative, but I guess he heard from someone that I’m able to eat food and requested the meeting to be moved to here instead.”  
“What kind of meeting was it?” Zero asked, propping an elbow on the table and leaning his head into his palm.  
“It was a diplomatic relations meeting, to ensure the bond between The Maverick Hunters and Repliforce stayed strong,” Iris said. “That meeting was actually the first time I met X. He was the one who suggested the change in venue. Said that conversing over a meal felt more friendly than talking in a cold conference area.”  
Zero’s eyes opened in surprise. “Wait, seriously? X never told me about that…”  
Iris’ eyes gleamed as she said, “He’s also the one who suggested I become a navigator for the Hunters to help strengthen our bond. I remember being hesitant at first, but I’m glad I took his advice on that one. I may have never gotten to know you if I didn’t.” She smiled, and Zero could feel his face turn red as his core seemed to pulse stronger at her words. He quickly grabbed the menu, fumbling with it as he opened it. He stuttered, “S-so, wh-what a-are you g-going to g-get?” as he buried his blushing face in his menu. He could hear Iris giggle, and his face grew a brighter red in embarrassment.

As Iris was opening her menu, a young waitress came up to their table and curtsied as she said, “My name is Laura, and I will be your server today.” She straightened up from her curtsy, a sweet smile on her face, her pen poised over the pad she held in her hand. “So, what can I get you to drink today? We have an assortment of sodas, seltzers, juices, and wines for your enjoyment.” As Iris thought of what she wanted, the waitress added, “If I may suggest something? We just got in a bottle of the 20XX Avone Blanc. It has a light and savory taste, and pairs well with all of our dishes.”  
“Oh, no thank you!” Iris said, her voice very slightly on edge. “I’ll just have an apple cider.”  
“Alright, one apple cider,” the waitress said as she wrote it down on her pad. She then turned to Zero and asked, “And what would you like, sir?”  


Zero looked up at her and smiled as he said, “I’ll have a glass of that Avone Blanc, if you don’t mind.”  
Iris looked at him puzzled as the waitress wrote down his drink order, and Zero returned her look with a questioning one of his own.  
“Are you two ready to order, or do you need more time?” the waitress asked.  
Zero broke eye contact with Iris to look at the waitress and replied, “I need some more time to decide.”  
“Ok! I’ll have your drinks out in a bit,” the waitress cheerily pipped before walking away, and Zero got the impression that she would be better suited to work at a café than at this fancy restaurant.  
“Why did you get wine?”  
He let out a muffled “Hm?” as he turned his head back to look at Iris. She was staring at him, and it was the same kind of studying gaze he’s seen some scientists give him while working on him. The kind of gaze that made his skin crawl with dread. Suppressing those thoughts, he hesitantly asked, “Is there something wrong with wine?”  
Iris flinched at how uncomfortable Zero looked, and her gaze became less piercing as she said, “W-well, I guess not.” She looked to the side and muttered “Not for us, anyway….”  
Zero followed her gaze and found she was looking at some other customers, two humans that were laughing and drinking what seemed to be champagne. He looked back at Iris as she sighed. “Is something the matter?” he asked.  
Iris was silent for a long time, her eyes never leaving the two humans. During that time, the waitress came with their drinks, cheerily setting them down on the table.  
“One apple cider for the missus,” she happily said, placing a glass of cider on the table next to Iris, “and a glass of Avone Blanc for the gent,” she continued, placing a wine glass half filled with a glistening white wine down in front of him. She grinned at them as she asked, “Are you two ready to order?”  
“Oh!” Zero softly exclaimed, turning look at Iris. “Iris, are you-”  
“Récolte de Printemps Ratatouille, please,” Iris said without turning around. Zero glanced to the side and saw that the two human’s faces looked a bit pink as they smiled widely at each other.  
“How about you, sir?” the waitress asked.  
Zero sight snapped back to the waitress and he pulled up his menu to point at something. “I would like this, please.”  
The waitress looked over his shoulder towards the item he was pointing at on the menu. “The Gigot D’Agneau Pleureur?” Zero nodded his head and the waitress wrote it down on her pad, saying, “Got it. One Récolte de printemps ratatouille and one Gigot D’Agneau Pleureur. Will that be all?”  
Zero glanced at Iris before saying “That’ll be good for right now. Thank you.” The waitress smiled and bowed slightly before walking off.  
The waitress had barely gone when Zero heard Iris mutter something under her breath. “….. don’t…. it….”  
“What was that?” Zero asked, leaning forward.  
Iris turned to him and threw her hands up in the air while she exclaimed, “I don’t get it! Why do humans drink alcoholic beverages! They are literally drinking liquids that are bad for their mental and physical health, that impair their abilities on all fronts, and they enjoy it! I just…” she sighed, her posture deflating as she sadly muttered, “I just don’t understand…”  
Zero picked up his glass and swirled the gleaming liquid inside of it around, staring forlornly at the glass’ side. “I hope you never do understand,” he remarked sorrowfully.  
Zero winced as he heard a loud thump, and looked up to see that Iris had stood up slightly and slammed her hands down on the table, her face filled with anger.  
“You hope that I never understand!?” she yelled, before realizing that she had drawn the attention of the other patrons. She sat back down, but didn’t calm in the least. Leaning towards him, she quietly said, “I was built, _created_ , to understand others, both reploid and human,” her voice almost a hiss. “It’s one of my major purposes in life, and you hope I _never understand!?_ ”  
Zero leaned backwards in shock, staring into her enraged eyes. “I-I didn’t mean it like that!” he nervously exclaimed.  
“Then how _did_ you mean it?”  
“I meant….” Zero sighed and closed his eyes. When he re-opened them, they were sorrowful. Zero could see Iris’ anger falter a bit, but it didn’t disappear completely. “Look, humans drink this stuff to become oblivious. To their past, their future, their pain, problems, regrets, whatever. I just hope…” he looked down into his wine glass and sighed. “I just hope you’re never dealt some lot in life that would make you fully understand how someone could sacrifice their health and wellbeing just to forget for a moment. To be oblivious. To drown their sorrows.” Zero held the glass to his lips and took a large gulp of his wine.

Iris’ anger dissipated as Zero took a drink from his wine glass, and her mind hit upon a notion that made her core seize in worry. “Zero…” she began. Zero looked at her as he swallowed his wine. “Do you have something like that? Some moment that was so awful you’d choose oblivion over remembering it?”  
Zero glanced to the side before sighing and setting his wine glass back on the table. “You could say that.”  
“Is it about when you died?”  
“Heh…” Zero looked down and said “There was that ….”  
“But that’s not it?”  
Zero stared down into his wine glass, a troubled expression on his face.  
“Zero…” Iris prompted, fixing him with a gentle gaze. “You can tell me.”  
Zero stayed silent a few moments, before saying “I have…. nightmares, when I’m recharging.”  
“Nightmares? That’s strange…..” Iris put a hand to her mouth in thought. “Have you had your neural sleep modulator examined?”  
“Yeah, I have, and everything checked out just fine. The problem doesn’t lie in anything technical. I think….” Zero sighed, before continuing “I think the problem lies with me….”  
“I-I’m sure that’s not-” Iris stuttered, before a single glance from Zero stopped her. His eyes looked sad, lost, and pained.  
Zero looked back down towards his drink, and an awkward silence hung over the two as Zero swirled the wine around in his glass and Iris thought desperately of something to say.

After a few minutes, Zero heard Iris meekly ask “Do you… want to talk about them?” He looked up to see her looking down at the table. “Your nightmares?”  
Her eyes rose to look at his, and Zero diverted his gaze as he mumbled “Not really….” He made the mistake of looking back and saw that Iris looked like she was about to cry. “I-I mean…” he quickly stuttered, his voice almost cracking. Iris looked up at him, her eyes pitifully sad. “I-I just meant that maybe that’s not a very good topic to talk about over…. dinner…” He trailed off as their eyes met, and he felt like he’d been stabbed through his core when he saw how small and despondent Iris looked. He exclaimed, “I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you about them after dinner, okay?”  
Iris’s eyes relaxed, and a small smile graced her face as she said, “Okay.”  
Zero breathed an internal sigh of relief, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the waitress walking up with their food.  
“One Récolte de Printemps Ratatouille for the lady,” she said happily, setting a plate of thin angel hair pasta topped with vegetables in front of Iris. “And one Gigot D’Agneau Pleureur for the sir,” she continued, placing a dish of potatoes with a lamb cutlet on top in front of Zero. “Is there anything you two need?”  
“We’re good,” Iris said, smiling sweetly at the waitress. “Thank you, Laura.”  
“If you do need anything, just ask.” The waitress curtsied before turning to help some other customers who had just come in.  
Zero watched as Iris picked up her fork and speared a slice of zucchini, before raising the fork and placing the slice in her mouth. She chewed, and her face melted into a look of pure bliss. His heart fluttered at the sight. She swallowed her food, and Zero said “You look like you’re enjoying the Re… Recul….”  
“Récolte de Printemps Ratatouille?” Iris supplied with an amused grin.  
“Yes. That”  
Iris giggled. “It’s my favorite dish here.” She speared another slice of zucchini, this time twirling her fork so that some of the angel hair pasta below curled around the tines. She placed the entire morsel in her mouth and closed her eyes, giving a hum of pleasure at the taste. Zero sighed at how lovely she looked. When Iris opened her eyes again, she gave Zero a curious look. “Are you going to eat or are you just going to stare at me while I eat?” she asked.  
“Hmmm? …..Ah!” Zero slightly jumped, a massive blush covering his face as he clumsily picked up his fork and knife in embarrassment. Iris snorted in amusement as Zero cut into the lamb cutlet, his face burning. He lifted the slice of lamb up to his mouth and quickly took a bite, and his eyes widened in delight as the taste hit his tongue. His mouth watered as he bit and chewed the tender meat, and unconsciously he let out a small purr of satisfaction.  
“Is it good?” Iris asked, a smile on her lips and a slight blush on her cheeks.  
Zero nodded, swallowing the morsel. He lifted his fork to spear some of the potatoes underneath, saying, “I see why you like this place so much now.”  
Iris smiled at him and nodded, before refocusing her attention on her own dinner. The two slowly ate their meals in companionable silence, savoring each bite and simply enjoying each other’s presence.

As Zero took the last bite of his potatoes, the waitress came around. “Did you two enjoy your meal?” she asked warmly, a bright smile on her face.  
“Yes, we did,” Iris replied, while Zero simply nodded as he swallowed.  
“I’m glad to hear that! Would you two like the check now, or would you like to order dessert?”  
“I don’t know,” Zero answered, before looking at Iris. “Iris, do you want dessert?”  
“I’m good,” Iris replied back.  
Zero turned back towards the waitress. “I guess we’ll have that check, then.”  
The waitress nodded and handed Zero the check before walking away to help another customer. He opened it up and winced slightly at the cost of their meals, before reaching into an inner pocket in his jacket and pulling out a thin credits card. He slipped it into the check and handed the check back to the waitress as she passed by their table.  
“De retour bientôt!” she said, as she turned back towards the kitchen. Zero just gave her a hestitant smile and muttered “thank you..”  


“So…” Iris said, as the waitress walked away. “Is there something wrong with your universal translator?”  
Zero looked at her quizzically and asked “No. Why do you ask?”  
“Because you haven’t been able to say or understand a single French word all night.”  
“Ah,” Zero breathed out, leaning back slightly in his chair. “That’s because my universal translator is actually a part of my helmet, not a part of me.”  
“Really?”  
“Yep. I wasn’t initially made with one like most reploids are, and since the techies at HQ still don’t have a solid idea of how my design works, they don’t want to risk damaging anything in my cognitive systems just to give me an internal translator. So, they installed it into my helmet instead.”  
“That makes sense,” Iris conceded. “What languages do you know without your helmet?”  
Zero crossed his arms, closed his eyes in thought, and said, “Without it, I can speak and translate English, Japanese, and…. German, for some reason.”  
“German? That’s odd…”  
Zero shrugged, and Iris gave a light snort of amusement.

The waitress approached soon after with Zero’s card, and Zero thanked her as he took it and slid it into his pocket. The two stood up and headed for the restaurant’s exit. Iris seemed content and relaxed, and Zero kept an eye out for the rude concierge that saw them to their table, but didn’t see him. Instead, when they exited the restaurant some curly haired woman had taken his place at the booth, and she waved to them. As they passed, Zero caught a glimpse of the woman leaning down to Iris and could faintly hear her say, “Il a des belles fesses,” to her. Iris’ face turned beat red as she doubled over laughing. Zero turned to look at her in confusion and after a few seconds Iris staggered her way over to him and looped a dainty arm around his, calling back to the woman, “Je sais!” as she led Zero toward his ride-chaser.  
“What did she say?” Zero asked in bafflement.  
“Oh,” Iris breathed, before snickering. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it!”  
Zero gave her a feigned annoyed look as he readied the ride-chaser, and Iris giggled at him in response.  
“Well, shall we get going, then?” he asked, holding out a hand to help her on.  
“Yes. Let’s,” she replied, taking his hand and leaning on him as she mounted the ride-chaser. Once she was on, Zero climbed up behind her, and Iris felt his arms brush by her side as he leaned in to grab the handles. She remembered then of how Zero promised to talk to her about his nightmares after dinner, and thought of how to best bring the issue back up as he kicked the chaser into gear. Iris looked to him as he leaned his head on her shoulder, opening her mouth to speak, but she stopped as she saw how content and happy Zero seemed. He looked at her and shyly smiled, a faint blush to his cheeks, and she decided that the issue could wait until they got to wherever they were going. He pulled them onto the street, and Iris leaned back into his chest, smiling warmly as they zoomed away into the star-filled night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who read this before I even put up chapter 3: I love you guys so much. So freaking much. I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful day!


End file.
